Challenges ahead as suburbs prepare for more migrants
ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y. - Less than a week after Mayor Eric Adams announced hundreds of migrants would be staying at the Armoni Inn and Suites, the Rockland County health department put a notice up claiming Armoni needed a permit if it was going to operate as a temporary shelter.
"We can't give a hotel permit to a shelter" said Rockland County attorney Tom Humbach. Humbach says the county has also filed two court orders preventing Adams from using the inn in Orangeburg.
"We brought a case that said that you can't convert a hotel into a shelter without going through several processes, and the courts have upheld that as well."
New York City sticks with migrant hotel plan despite pushback from suburbs
New York City officials plan to send some asylum-seekers to a suburban hotel despite fierce resistance from local leaders and a judge's order temporarily blocking the use of a different hotel.
The town of Newburgh in Orange County has seen a number of asylum seekers arriving by bus all week and the city of Yonkers is expected to see a group arrive as soon as tomorrow.
"The mayor and the other county executives are trying to facilitate a path forward that works to ease the burden on NYC so that it’s done in other counties. Many of whom are welcoming but need the resources to accommodate those migrants" said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The mayor’s office says it will appeal both court orders filed by Rockland County, but confirms that migrants will continue to arrive in Orange County next week and now Yonkers. The city of Yonkers says it’s preparing for about 100 migrants to arrive at the Ramada Inn as soon as Sunday.